Big rush for $38m jackpot
Midweek Powerball prize close to Lotto’s largest payout
More than 1.7 million Lotto tickets are expected to be sold in a last-minute rush for a chance to claim tomorrow night’s monster $38m Powerball draw.
If won, the jackpot would be the second-equal largest payout of Lotto NZ history after two ticket holders split the same figure in 2017.
There were around 1.6m tickets sold for Saturday’s unclaimed $32m draw.
Lotto NZ refused to provide details around sale figures but if all customers bought the cheapest Powerball option, $12.2m would have been raised.
Lotto NZ’s overall sales for the year ending June 30, 2018 were $1.25 billion, according to the last annual report.
A record transfer of $275m was poured back into community initiatives, chief executive Chris Lyman and chair Matthew Boyd said in the report.
All profit raised by Lotto NZ was returned to communities nationwide through more than 3000 causes.
Every ticket sold for a Lotto draw was making a difference throughout New Zealand, spokeswoman Kirsten Robinson said.
Elsewhere, six ticket holders shared $1m after claiming Lotto’s first division on Saturday night.
With such a big jackpot up for grabs, Robinson advised hopefuls to get in early.
The luckiest numbers were 1, 7, 19, 22, 18 and 13. Most players preferred to play with random numbers, Robinson said, with “70 per cent of all tickets sold being dips”.
“Each line of numbers has exactly the same chance of winning, regardless of whether it is a dip of random numbers or a player’s own lucky numbers.”
If the $38m prize is not claimed this week, the jackpot could extend to as much as $50m during this month.
However, a must-be-won draw could be called by Lotto at any time.
Each line of numbers has exactly the same chance of winning. Kirsten Robinson